Shoemaker&#39;s last



H. E. TREAT.

SHOEMAKER'S LAST.

APPLICATION FILED JULYZ I920.

Patented Sept. 19,1922.

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31400101103: .2 75eqi "2 SHEETS-SHEET lfiizrr M y H. E. TREAT.

SHOEMAKER'S LAST. I APPLICATION FILED J ULYZ, I920.

' Patented Sept. 19, 1922, v

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

. j I am nanny a. TREAT, or: nocirns'rnn, ivnwvoniz,

SI-IOEMAKEB S LAST.

Application filed July-2, 1920. Serial No. 393,667.

To allwhomit'may concern:

Be it known that 1, Hana: EDWIN TREAT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Rochester, in the county of Monroe. and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Shoemakers Lasts, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in shoemakers wooden lasts and constitutes a further development of the ideas disclosed in my copending application filed October 4-, 1919, Serial No. 328,421.

The ordinary wooden last is of one piece construction, at least so far as the bodyv of the last is concerned, and after the toe portion of such a last has become considerably worn, this being the part which receives the greatest wear and strain, the entire last is discarded. Likewise when fashion decrees a change in the styles of shoes, the old style lasts .are usually discarded even though they may be comparatively new and in good condition. mary objects of the present invention to disclose a meanswhereby lasts'which'would otherwise be discarded may be repaired or made over by the substitution of a new toe portion to replace a worn or damaged toe portion or to provide a toe' portion of a different shape, or if desired the invention may be practiced by originally manufacturing a last in accordance therewith.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby not only may the general shape of the toe portion of a last be changed, in carrying out the invention, but also if desired a changemay be made in the shapeof the side portions of the last immediately in advance of the instep.

Another objectof the invention is to pro-- vide means whereby a last originally man-- ufactured, subsequently repaired, or recon-- structed in accordancewith the principles of the invention by the substitution of a new toe portion, may have the said portion effectually braced and its connection with the body portion of the last materially strengthened and reinforced so that the last will be as solid as a one piece last. v

The invention also contemplatesthe union, with the body portion of a last, of a toe portion having its grain running longitudinally and substantially parallel to the working face of the last and'in this respect the invention efiects adecided improvement.

Therefore-itis one of the pri-.

over the ordinary one piece Wooden last in which the grain runs diagonally to the working face of the toe portion and in the use of which latter type of last the toe portion is extremely liable'to be broken or chipped off while in use.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one form of last constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the last;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the forward part of the last;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view partly in section illustrating a modified form of last;

Fig. 5. is a bottom plan view of the last shown in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 5 illustrating one type of means which may be employed for reinforcing. the connection between thetoe and body portion of the last;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 illustrating a further modification;

Fig. 8 is a sideelevation of the fore part of the last shown in Fig. 7

In all figuresof the drawings, the body portion of the last is indicated.- in general by the numeral .1 and the toe portion by the numeral 2 and, so far as the present inven tion is concerned, the body portion 1 may be of any desired contour and of any desired construction. However, in that form of the invention. shown in Figs.--1, 2 and 3 of the drawings, for the purposes of the present inventionythe body portion 1 is formed with a blunt forward end 3 which 'may be produced either by initially "forming the body of the last: minus the toe portion orby cutting oft the toe portion from'an ordinary wooden last the original toe portion of which has become damaged or is considered to be'out of style. veution the body portion 1 of the last is formed substantially midway between its opposite sides, with a vertical mortise 4: which extends inwardly from the blunt or squared forward end 3 of the saidbody portion 1, and the opposite sides of the body portion at its forward end are mortised or. recessed one as indicated by the numeral 5 and the other as indicated by the numeral 6. The recess or mortise 5 is formed in the, outer side of the last and the recess or mortise 6 in the inner side thereof whether the last he designed for use in the manufacture of a right ora left shoe, Th-B Q Q fQ Eh? 9 In this form of the i11- 1 is or may be somewhat longer than the re-7 cess 6." lnfany event the recesses willpreh erably open through the. under or working face-of the body portion ofthelast and also through the respective side faces of the last.

7 Likewise in this torm'of the invention the. toe portion 2 is formed with a relatively blunt, rear end 7 and is provided with. an integralintermediate ten'on 8 and side tenons one ineli c atedl'by the numeral 9 and the other by thenumeral 10. The tenons 8, Q'and 10 are respectively fashionedend proportioned to'fit snugly within tllG DIOItlSQS or recesses. 4, 5 and 6 'asmost clearlyshown in Fig. 2' of the drawlngsand as regards the tenons 9 and 10, it'will 'be" observed that: the same completely fill the recesses or mortises 5and 6 and that the outer and under surfaces of these tenons merge and form continuations of the correspondingsurfaces of the toe portion 2. At'this point it may 'best'ated that these tenons 9 and 10 are employed chiefly for the purposeof affording means whereby the shapezof the shoe to be manufactured may be ch'angedfan'd'with this end in View the outer sides of the said tenons may be of any desired contour for initially formed somewhat' larger than desired and'then cut downitof the required shape or form. v 1

Any suitable means may be employed for q the purpose of securingthe' tenons" in their respective mortises'i- IPthetoe portion is "intended to be removablysecured in place;

screws'or the like will be utilized as. securing means but if the toe; portion is to be permanently united to the body portion, preferably make; use ofdowels asillustrated in .the'said Figs. 1, 2 and 8. Thus the tenon 8 may be securedfbytw o'dowel pinsll placed at its oppositesi'de's and driven into place at any desired angle of inclinat on as for example as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings in' dotted lines, andthese pins'rnay be of wood or metal ortany other suitable material; By reference to Fig. 2 it Wlll be ob served that the pins 11' seat substantially half in the opposite faces ofthe tenon 8 and substantially halt in the opposing walls of the mortise 4;. Likewise dowel pins 12 an d 13 are'eniployed for. the. purpose of securing the tenons 9 and 10 in the respective recesses i y M or mortises Sand 6 as shown in Fig.2 and itgwill be unfderstoodthat gluemay'f-be employed between the surfaces to effect more secure;un1on 1n'cases where the toe portion is to be permanently united to the body'po'r tion. I T Asfabove stated the tenons 9 andlO are employed'primarily to afford means'whereby the. contour of the opposite sides of the last be variedb'ut if'this isneither required, nor desi're d,'thesetenons and their respective mortises may be omitted and I may employ thefs'ingle teno nfl 8" the purpose of unitingt'he toe'portion to the body portion.

In that form, of the invention. shown in Figs. Land 5 of the drawings, thebody P01121011 I of thelast is formed in its forward. endfwith spaced'mortises 14 and the toe portion 2 is-provided' or formed with spaced'tenon's 15 which are disposed to fit within the mortises 14. In this form instead-of using dowel pins extending to a considerable depth in the last, I may form one wall of each mortise 14*with a recess l6 and'may form the opposing face of the respective'tenon 15 with a recess 17,7and v thenupon 'assemblage of the toe portion,

with the body portion and. upon registration of theicorresponding recesses; 16 and 17, may fit or'drive into place a smallrectangular block 18 of wood, metal or any other material to' perform the same function as. that performed bythe dowel pins heretofore described. i

. Instead of'employing two or more mortise and tenon'joints between the toe portion and body pgortion offthe'last. as shown in Figs. Land ,5' of the drawings, I may employ but a single'mortise, and tenon'joint" as illustrated in Fig. '6, the mortise of this figure-being indicated iby the numeral 19 and the tenon by the numeral 20, Likewise inthis form of the invention '11 may make use of a key block 21 corresponding.

portionl, and ineach of these sockets ll fit or drive, a short dowel 28-." r

Instead of employing the'dowel' 23 which is preferably cylindrical in form, I may make use of ake'y'such asshownin Figs. 7 f and 8 of'thedrawings and indicated by the numeral"24c, this key being preferablyin thenature of an approximately semi-circu lar flat sided piece of metal which may be driven into corresponding-1y formed" recesses" 25in the meeting ends offthe toe and, body portions of the' last. r

Hav'ingthus described the invention, what is claimed as newis: r i

' [1. A hoem alrers last comprising a'body portion; and a toe portion each havinga blunt end,the [blunt end of one: of said portions beingrecessed. to term a" mortise and theblunt end': ofi the other; being provided: with an integral'tenon fitting the mortise; and a locking element seated within a reeess formed partly in one sideof the" tenon and partly within the confronting-wall of the mortise, the mortise and teno n being diss posed substantially 'perpendicularlyto the:

working face of the last andY ext ending' lone,

gitudinally with relation to their respective portions, and the locking element being coextensive in height With the tenon and extending from the Working face of and heightwise of the last and having its lower end disposed substantially flush with said Working face.

2. A shoemakers last comprising a body portion and a toe portion, one of said portions being formed With a mortise and the other with a tenon fitting the mortise, the two said portions at one side being formed at their juncture With registering recesses, and a locking element seating in the said recesses and spanning the juncture, the mortise and tenon extending longitudinally with relation to their respective portions, and the locking element extending approximately parallel to the Working face of the last.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

HARRY E. TREAT. 

